


They don't remember you (but I will)

by SerialKillerQueen



Series: V and Johnny sitting in a tree [2]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: (more that), Crushes, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Dreams, F/M, Fear of Loss of Identity, Introspection, Johnny is emotionally open and vulnerable for once, Loss of Identity, Possession, Promises, Slightly tweaked the canon dialogue, This is so unbeta'd it's not even funny, V has a crush, V resembles Alt, alright it's beta read ish, also my tenses are effed we'll just have to deal, by me, do not copy to another site, long conversation, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29949516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerialKillerQueen/pseuds/SerialKillerQueen
Summary: V and Johnny have a surprising conversation in the oilfields. (They both totally have a crush).
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand & V, Johnny Silverhand/V
Series: V and Johnny sitting in a tree [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202696
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	They don't remember you (but I will)

**Author's Note:**

> Please check the previous story for info!  
> Here's the mycast I use for reference for this!  
> https://www.mycast.io/stories/cyberpunk-2077-4

V grimaced slightly as her boots sank into the mud. 

The oil fields lived up to their name. Blackened...sludge (for lack of a better word) coated the ground, an unpleasant smell lingering in the air. 

Part of her wondered why they were even here, if they really needed to check into this at all.

Another part felt...unsettled, Johnny had been off all day. Ever since meeting with Rogue. 

So she’d gone looking for where his body had been dumped, and here they were.

And there...it was. Nothing. Some scattered beer bottles and sheet metal, that was it.

“So that’s how it is… Nothing here at all.”

It seemed their thought processes were going in the same direction, for once.

The construct sat down on one of the metal sheets, and she settled on the other one, wincing faintly, it was a good thing tetanus wasn’t much of an issue anymore.

“What’d you expect? Headstone, flag and flowers?”

She was only half joking, and that more out of instinct than anything else. 

This whole thing had her on edge. 

“Nah, I… I dunno. A marker? Something. Anything. It’s like I never even was.”

His head was bowed, voice subdued, she’d never seen him like that, and it _bothered_ her.

_”I just want the world to know that I was here. That I mattered.”_

She pulled her knife out of her boot.

“Let’s do something about that.”

She scratched ‘JS 2023’ into the metal beside her, then brushed away the resulting shavings.

“Better now?”

The man shifted into a sitting position, no longer hunched into himself.

“A bit. But let’s say it was my real grave. What would you write?”

He held his hand out and gestured, as if following along with text,

“‘Here lies Johnny Silverhand…’”

There were quite a few things she could have said, quite a few she should have.

What she said was the truth, in one way or another.

“‘The guy who saved my life.’”

(If she hadn’t had the chip in...that shot would have killed her. And that would have been it. No second chances.

If _Jackie_ had left the chip in he would have lived he -)

Johnny stood up, taking his aviators off and studying them.

“V… You don’t know how much I want that to be true… Listen, I realize I fucked up a lotta things. Either let down or used every last person who gave me their trust. Blind, selfish bastard that I was.”

She couldn’t deny that. Not with what she’d seen in his memories, of Rogue, of Kerry of… of Alt.

(And she noticed, she couldn’t help but notice...if her eyes were green wouldn’t she look just like… And then she would stop noticing, it bothered her. For reasons she couldn’t (didn’t want) to name).

But she knew there was more to him than she’d once given him credit for. She’d seen it at the Pistis Sophia, she believed his promise, that he would sacrifice for her, to protect her.

“I’ve managed one thing for now. Not to fuck this up, what we have.”

(Some part of her whispers that that’s not true, that he betrayed her trust. It wasn’t easy to let him take control of her body. It scared her, getting lost in his mind like that. She trusts him but what if it was permanent? What if he - what if became tempted and…

But he did give her back. A betrayal. But showing her she could trust him all at once… She’s still angry about the tattoo though).

“Fucked it up? No, not exactly. But you did betray my trust.”

She sees him wince almost imperceptibly, but continues before he can respond, she doesn’t want to linger on this, it’s done with now.  


“Been a long, bumpy road, but we made it.”

He sits down again, this time beside her, placing his aviators back on, and a cigarette between his lips.

“Most people I thought were my friends, they couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as me. You’re fuckin’ closest to me by a long shot -”

(And does a little thrill run through her at that?)

“ - There twenty four seven. And yet…you don’t seem to hate my living guts.”

She did, for a time. It feels strangely distant now. 

“Too bad we didn’t talk like this earlier. Would’ve made things easier.”

There’s a wry edge to his voice as he says,

“Never found the right moment.”

She huffs quietly, as if. He had plenty of moments.

_”I know. That’s why I'm going to fix it.”_

He stands again, lips twitching.

“Never thought we’d make it this far.”

She grins in return.

“Still feel like you can’t breathe in here?”

“Nah, not saying it’s great, but it’s different.”

She raises an eyebrow as he starts pacing, as he is wont to do, she’s noticed.

“Sometimes when I wake up, feels like I’m back for awhile. Like I got this body to myself, like I’m free. Seconds later, feels like I'm missing something - something really important. Then I realize you’re there, always were, and this stupid wave of relief washes over me.”

V doesn’t think it’s stupid, she thinks she understands, thinks she’d feel it too. 

“Have similar dreams sometimes, that you never died, that I’m you.”

She knows it’s not a good thing, but that loneliness, that crushing sense of separation, lifts, in those moments. She spent so much of her life alone, little orphan girl. 

Until Jackie, until he showed up with a gun in her face and changed her life.

Until he left for good, and changed it again.

Until Johnny.

Yeah. Until Johnny.

She’s glad they went here, even if she wishes they’d found something different, something more. 

She’s glad.

**Author's Note:**

> I had to go ahead and get this one out before Ao3 cut me off for posting today (if you don't deal with that glitch I envy you), I planned on it covering Johnny asking about going on a date with Rogue, but I also don't know how I'd approach that, so it may be better to leave it. I think if I come back to this it'll be when Johnny reunites with Kerry.
> 
> I was kinda bugged that in this scene, you either totally ignore how much Johnny betrays your trust the first time you give him the body, or you absolutely eviscerate him over it. It felt ill fitting to a pretty tender moment, but also not right to totally ignore it. I tweaked the dialogue a bit to reflect that. I also slightly smushed together a line of his dialogue, and changed it to V using a knife to carve his initials because it bugs my OCD rear that they just pick up a random rock and it works xD  
> I hope V didn't feel too generic, and that you enjoy!


End file.
